AHL Charlotte Checkers

Checkers Open Exhibition Season Friday

Published on October 3, 2002 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Charlotte Checkers News Release


Charlotte, NC (October 3, 2002) - After practicing against themselves during the first four days of training camp, the Charlotte Checkers finally get a chance to play against another team. The defending East Coast Hockey League champion Greenville Grrowl will help the Checkers kick off their 2002-03 exhibition season Friday night at 7:30 pm at Cricket Arena. Barring some last-minute player additions from Charlotte's American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack, the Checkers will take 17 skaters into Friday night's exhibition opener

Friday night's home exhibition will be the lone Cricket Arena pre-season match. Ticket prices for Friday night's exhibition are $5.00 for adults, and $3.00 for youth 16 years of age and under. Charlotte will travel to the BI-LO Center in Greenville on Saturday for three, mini-exhibition games before closing out their exhibition slate Monday night in Greensboro.

VETERANS BACK ON CRICKET ARENA ICE: Charlotte fans will welcome back six of last season's favorites including center Konrad McKay, defensemen Kurt Seher and Nick Bilotto, goaltender Bryce Wandler, and wingers Vince Malts and Kevin Caulfield. The six returnees helped the Checkers post a 41-20-11, 93 point record last season, third best in the ECHL.

NEWCOMERS WILL LOOK TO IMPRESS CHARLOTTE FANS: Checkers' Coach Don MacAdam's free agent signees will get their first opportunity to impress the Queen City faithful Friday night. Up front the Checkers will look to centers Eddie Pershin and Allan Egeland for offense. Both have proven to be point-a-game performers at the ECHL level. Winger Walker McDonald will look to give the Checkers more size, scoring and another physical presence. No one will probably garner more attention from fans and media than Japanese centerman Takahito Suzuki. The 27 year old, who signed to a tryout contract with the Checkers, will attempt to become the first Japanese player in the 15 year history of the East Coast Hockey League to win a roster spot. Rookie defenseman Ryan Murray will be counted on to learn quickly and help bolster what is likely to be a young defense. Rookie goaltender Brandon Snee has been impressive to coaches at the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolfpack training camps.

GREENVILLE UPDATE: The Grrowl will come to Charlotte Friday night as the defending ECHL champions. Former Checkers' Coach, John Marks, led Greenville to their first "Kelly Cup" in only the franchise's fourth season. However, only two players from the last season's championship club have returned for 2002-03. Along with returnees Eric Lind and Martin Masa, former Checker and Grrowl newcomer Mike Hurley will also dot the Grrowl roster.

NEW SCOREBOARD TO BE UNVEILED: Cricket Arena will feature a new "Jumbotron" scoreboard this season, and the flashy addition will gets its' first action Friday night. The new scoreboard is one of many new improvements to be featured at Cricket Arena this season.

EXHIBITION GAME SCHEDULE:

EXHIBITION INFO: Saturday, October 5 the Checkers will participate in the "Dog Day Challenge" at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Charlotte will join the Greenville Grrowl, Roanoke Express and Greensboro Generals in an all-day, 4 V 4 mini-game scrimmage. The Checkers will play three games in all, beginning with a 12 Noon clash with Roanoke. At 2:00 pm Charlotte will take on Greensboro, and the "Dog Day Challenge" will close with an 8:00 pm battle between the Checkers and Grrowl.

After an off day on Sunday, October 6 the Checkers will close out their exhibition slate with a 7:30 pm game against the Greensboro Generals in Greensboro on Monday, October 7. The game will be played at the Generals' practice arena, The Ice House, located at 6119 Landmark Blvd. in Greensboro. The Monday, October 6 exhibition game in Greensboro is open to the public with an admission charge of $5.00.

TICKET INFO: Individual game tickets for all 36 Checkers' regular season home games are on sale now and may be purchased through Ticketmaster via phone at (704) 522-6500, via website, www.ticketmaster.com, or in person at the Cricket Arena Box Office located at 2700 E. Independence Boulevard in Charlotte (704) 335-3100. Group Tickets, Mini-Plans and Season Tickets also remain on sale. Specific ticket information can be obtained by calling the Checkers' office (704) 342-4423.

HOME OPENER: Greenville Grrowl at Charlotte – Friday, October 11 @ Cricket Arena at 7:30 pm.

Check out the Charlotte Checkers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from October 3, 2002


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central